IPDevCorp
IPDevCorp is a portmanteau of Inter-Planetary Development Corporation. The corporation has made their bucks claiming or contracting for worlds and terraforming them, rendering them as inhabitable as their budgets allow. Then they build colonies on the worlds, and then ship in the colonists. As the world's economy develops, the corporation has a hand in shipping and selling, and collects a "development fee". In time, these fees and other collections amount to several times the development costs of these worlds, which equals profits for IPD's shareholders. These methods are not without criticisms. In fact, the practices of the corporation causes it to be regarded as rather evil. Still they provide services that foolish customers pay for. Over the last 250 years, IPDevCorp has developed 125 worlds, of which 61 have been opened up for colonization. Of that number, 7 have crawled out from under the heel of the corporation, three by open rebellion, and four by having their debts declared paid in full. On the other hand, 27 have had their planetary governments removed, either by foreclosure or counterinsurgency military operations. A great many potential colonies go into a deal with IPDevCorp with a scheme to throw off corporate influence within a few years. These are hardly ever successful. In addition to the corporate insinuation into the planetery governments and threat of foreclosure or worse, the corporate system of trade and security is a marvel of efficiency as opposed to multiple governments trying to work a system between themselves on their own. Many colonies find that they would rather keep dealing with them than try to go against them. IPDevCorp isn't the only group terraforming worlds for colonization, but they're the largest and one of the fastest, and their payment plan includes the lowest down payments and reasonable fees, even if they're structured so that most worlds would never be free of them in perpetuity. Not every world that IPDevCorp controls has been terraformed by them from the wild. A dozen of them have had the misfortune of going to war with IPDevCorp worlds or harboring pirates that preyed on their starships. Others have done business with them and leased them real estate or borrowed from their banks and in time ended up like the others. IPDevCorp has fleets of starships that travel between the worlds that they develop, often under exclusive contracts or steep tarriffs that discourage other shippers from trading with those worlds, proceeds going towards paying the development costs of the world. The corporation maintains a sizable paramilitary "security" force that patrols the worlds under their control. This force includes several squadrons of "Cruise" class starships as well as hundreds of "Patrol" class ships. The force also includes tens of thousands of ground troops and powerful military vehicles. These forces are supposedly used for shipping patrol (the corporation has many enemies with ships of their own) and for policing their facilities, but they are also known to be used to foreclose on defaulting colonists and fight those who resist corporate "development". The worlds under IPDevCorp's "development" may petition to build their own militaries. Without fail, these forces are armed with weapons sold by IPD's industrial partners and are armed inferior to the corporation's own forces. Certain worlds rent these forces out to IPD for shipping protection or foreclosure missions for a reduction of the development fee. Headquarters: The corporate headquarters is officially located at Freshwater Bay on planet Waldron within the TransWorld Alliance, though the majority of headquarters operations are located on a station orbiting that world. Many of IPD's worlds fall under the TWA's sphere of influence. These worlds have more protections against the worst of IPD's policies, but the TWA still has a corporate-friendly "you get what you pay for" attitude. At best rebel worlds face TWA's professional soldiers instead of IPD's corporate dogs. IPDevCorp owns many companies, and partners with others. *New Worlds Shipping (owned in full by IPDevCorp): Cargo shipper to the corporate stores on the colony worlds. *IPDev Industrial (owned in full by IPDevCorp): Industrial shipper for the planetary development operations, includes raw materials shippers, habitation shippers, water tankers, asteroid miners, comet snatchers, etc. *Fiesta Star Lines (corporate partner with IPDevCorp): Fleet of passenger liners. *Paidrah Military Technology (corporate partner): The maker of most military equipment used by IPDevCorp. Not exclusive, but IPD is their primary customer. IPD surplus goods are sold to their worlds. *Ares Industries (subsidary of Paidrah Military Technology): Exclusive manufacturer of wholesale military and police equipment sold on IPD worlds. A cut below current PMT tech. *DevMart (owned in full by IPDevCorp): The corporate store found on the worlds. *New Worlds Market (largely owned by IPDevCorp with investment by different developed worlds): Corporate store with more focus on trading items developed on the different worlds. *FarBeyond Space Systems (largely owned by IPDevCorp with other partners): Builder of space stations, both orbital and deep space. *Freshwater Bay (IPDevCorp label, manufactured by different entities): This is the corporate brand found on electronics, gadgets, clothing, appliances, and foodstuffs sold in the corporate stores. In general it is of adequate quality. *Frontiers Bank and Credit (relation with IPDevCorp unclear): "independent" financial institution securing IDP's accounts. Branches open at every developed world, payments to IPD go through here. *Lanier's Legion (mercenaries from an IPD world working for fee): this is a mercenary corps of ten thousand troops from planet Lanier. CRITICISMS 1. The world often remains the property of IPDevCorp, with the corporation retaining powerful rights and veto powers in whatever world government emerges. These rights include exclusive shipping rights to and from the world, the operation of corporate import/export shops (DevMart), the stationing of IPDevCorp's paramilitary forces on planet, and corporate interference with planetary politics. 2. There are some who claim that not every world that has been developed has been devoid of original life, at least until it was developed. They say numerous worlds' thriving ecosystems have been annihilated for the cause of colonization and profit.